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Hurricane Sandy Bearing Down on East Coast

(AP) - The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency says "the time for preparing and talking is about over.

Craig Fugate (FYOO'-gayt) says it's now time to act, before Hurricane Sandy moves ashore and collides with two other weather systems, potentially threatening some 50 million people.

Tens of thousands are being told to evacuate coastal areas of Delaware, New Jersey, Connecticut and other vulnerable spots along the East Coast.

New York City is shutting down its subways, buses and trains tonight, and closing its schools tomorrow. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has also ordered the evacuation of low-lying neighborhoods in the city, including lower Manhattan.

Airlines are canceling thousands of flights and Amtrak is scaling back train service in the Northeast Corridor.

Forecasters expect Sandy to come ashore late tomorrow or early Tuesday, most likely in New Jersey, bringing high winds and coastal flooding. Then it's expected to meet up with a storm moving in from the west and cold air streaming down from the Arctic.

Forecasters say the resulting megastorm could blow down trees and power lines and dump heavy rain or snow over 800 miles, from the East Coast to the Great Lakes. Parts of West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky and North Carolina could get up to 2 feet of snow.